


Sample  - Ivaris Lawliet, Barrier of the West.

by Grimsteria



Series: Codex of the Barriers [1]
Category: Original - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimsteria/pseuds/Grimsteria
Summary: Simply a sample of my writing so that I can get my bearings on AO3, and also cull an idea. I might continue this, I might not. Haven't decided.
Series: Codex of the Barriers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555726
Kudos: 2





	Sample  - Ivaris Lawliet, Barrier of the West.

The fog permeated the air, thick and heavy. Each breath taken in felt as if the air was trying to choke him unconscious, not that it could. This forest was very clearly under some sort of charm, or spell. Skeletal trees sharp and jagged lined the dirt trail leading into this forsaken wood, like lines of spear-men poking and prodding at passersby, urging them forward lest they face the spikes behind them. The man being urged forward by said trees was adorned in leather armor, an arming sword rested in it's sheath at his side, his hand resting on the pommel. Ivaris Lawliet was a huntsman of the eldritch, arcane, and otherworldly, also known as a Barrier.

One of six others, to be exact. Barriers were powerful hunters who roamed the lands putting down the supernatural in exchange for coin, so it was safe to say that he was no stranger to the abnormal. Imbued with their own innate magical potential, and trained to be more physically apt than your typical commoner, Barriers were viewed as demigods among the population. Ivaris was used to being hailed as a hero, he and his fellow Barriers had always had the favor of most for as long as he could remember, although his father, the former Barrier of the West, had explained to him that it used to be otherwise. However that was the past, in his mind, he wasn't a Barrier because of the coin, although he liked the coin that he often received as thanks. The things he did, such as saving a family from a mimic who had killed and replaced their farmhand and planned to feast on them next, or casting out a spirit that haunted a popular road it's corporeal form was slain on were done for the greater good. Barriers, such as himself, served to stop twisted evils from destroying their lands, killing indiscriminately, and being an overall nuisance, regardless if they were paid by the people or not. Their original handler was an ancient God of creation whose celestial kin, in spite of them, created monstrosities to roam the beautiful planes they had woven for the kindred. In retaliation, this God of creation picked six of the kindred that roamed their land, and shared a fraction of their power with the six they had chosen. His father had imparted this knowledge to him.

His father had also gotten this information from his own father, Ivaris’s grand-dad who predated his dad as the Barrier of the West, who also told him; That a rogue celestial, name lost to the ages, was jealous of the Creation God. Their creations were twisted, evil, abominations that writhed in agony simply from existing. Some more than others. The twisted beings lashed out, and the God of creation deemed them unfit to roam the realm they had made for the kindred. Elves, orcs, dwarfs, and humans alike, as well as some more outlandish denizens hailed from mountains, forests, planes, and oceans, the Creation God found them to be better than their kin's warped monsters. Insulted, the rogue celestial whose ego and rage had grown in size declared war on the Creation God, and like a toddler throwing a tantrum, the rogue celestial forced their creations onto the realm, and thus the Void-born were brought about, and so was the eternal war.

The initial merging of the god's power with the six kindred managed to not only wipe out a large amount of the rogue celestial's forces, but also created safe havens where the Chosen stood. The kindred took advantage of these barriers that surrounded their would-be kingdoms, and they began to thrive, slowly taking back the land that the Creation God had intended belong to them in the first place. Time passed on and on, blood was shed, kingdoms were raised, and the forces were driven back to the Void, a dark, barren shell of a realm, where their creator had formed them in.

The Creation God saw a critical weakness now that the abominations had been driven back to their home’s gateway, deciding that then would be the opportune time, their power surged through the Barriers, and the six that held the power of creation inside of them gathered, making the final push against the dark forces. In tandem with their Chosen, and their Liege, used their power to form Sol, a seemingly impenetrable wall between the Void, and their plane, Corvis. The Barriers had served their purpose, and only stragglers of the decimated forces remained in the world now, hardly threats to anyone protected by the great barrier. The Creation God, satisfied with their victory, had decided to allow the Chosen to continue wielding their power, should the abominations that had not been exiled from the realm grow in power, they wanted to make sure that the kindred at least had the tools to stop them in their absence.

So the Creation God's Chosen went on, to rule, to lead, to be overthrown, to succeed and fail. History painted itself over the realms century old canvas, covering the past, and soon the kindred forgot why the Chosen even existed to begin with. None believed their claims that they were hand selected by the God of creation, and thereafter the Chosen fell from being a once highly praised, powerful, political group to being delegated to overgrown pest removal. Relations with the Chosen had been fragile then, but slowly the kindred began to trust them once more, and over the time passed through the generations of Barriers, relations had been repaired.

The progenitors of the Barriers and their deeds mostly lost to all but their descendants, a fresh start in a way.

Ivaris’s trek through the woods came to a halt at the mouth of a clearing, the wood surrounding the clearing dense, the trees now smooth and close knit in stark comparison to how it was on the way to this place. Positioned at the back of the clearing sat a quaint cabin, wooden, a singular window placed left of the door frame, in which no door was present. upon squinting his eyes at the structure, he noted that the door frame was actually splintered where the hinges were supposed to be. Something wanted to be inside, and it got it’s wish. Cautiously, the huntsman stepped forward, getting across the clearing without incident. With quiet steps he pressed himself against the cabin’s broadside, peering around the corner to assess the situation once more. From what he could glean through the window, there were three forms. One sat still in a chair, however from the extreme lack of movement, not even the rise and fall of one's chest while breathing, Ivaris figured that they were probably deceased. 

The other two forms seemed to be human-like, nothing out-of-the-ordinary about their features so far. They were hunched over, backs turned to the entrance, he could here whispered conversation, or at least something akin to it. With his grip tightening on his weapons handle as he pulled away from the wall, he decided to draw their attention. Ivaris grabbed a pebble off of the ground, taking a brief moment to deeply breath in. 

It was a gamble, while the forms inside looked human-like on the exterior, there were a multitude of things they could be. Based on the description he had received from the town's guard captain when he had originally taken the job, they were most likely hiding under a mask to conceal their true monstrous forms. "Mind yer' self." Captain Fereck had bellowed at him, "We've lost two search parties to these foul creatures. Reports say that they pray on the kindness of others, usually posin' as wounded, lost, starvin'... you get it. They fooled my men, good men, they were..." the Captain had paused, uneasy, tired, green eyes meeting Ivaris's own deep yellow ones. "What was left of the last search party, just a boy this scout is, says that these things ripped apart our men with ease. Those men were the best we had, huntsman. You're plenty capable of this task m'sure... It's just that m' gut is tellin' me feel that something funny is happening..." The interaction had stuck with Ivaris, the guilt in the Fereck's eyes, something funny was happening, that much he was sure of. regardless, he had a job to do.

He stood away from the cabin once more, body aligned with the door frame, and readied his weapon. Pointing the sword lazily at the door frame, Ivaris used his free hand to fling the pebble a the window, giving it a kick of momentum by using his powers to push the rock with a strong gust. The rock shot through the window shattering the glass with ease as the sound ripped through the silence that had hung in the air, Ivaris loudly cleared his throat and called out, "By order of the Barrier of the West, you will show yourself, otherwise you will be executed on the spot on suspicion of being Void-borne."

To say that disinterest dripped from Ivaris' words would be an understatement. This process had become second nature to him, so when two figures lurched out of the cabin, mouths gaping open, eyes pitch black, voices gravelly and hoarse, slim skeletal faces with features that shifted as if they were still being sculpted, he wasn't surprised. He made a bet with himself, predicting that they were going to step out and hurl insults, maybe rant a little as well. Either way this would only end in their death. 

"Insolent cur." The creature to left basically spat at Ivaris, it's face contorted 

"Nice." thought Ivaris to himself, a smug aura surrounded his otherwise bored features. He loved being right.

"How rude of you to interrupt our preparations. I knew that coward we allowed to slip away would only serve to be more of a nuisance. Now this oaf of a captain sends one man?" The thing to the right followed up, "Regardless, I suppose we only benefit from the food he sends our way." It continued, letting out something that could be compared to a cackle mixed with the sound of two knives scraping together. The creature to the left joined in on this horrid show of joy, Ivaris's patience waning with each second this continued on.  
"I, Ivaris Lawliet, am the Barrier of the West, moving forward, your living privileges are revoked. You'll return beyond Sol, peacefully or not, either way it will happen." His voice caused the creatures cackling to stop dead. He yawned out the final words, patting his mouth as he did so, just to drive in the fact that he was bored. His attempt at mockery proved successful as the creature to the left was provoked.

Both monsters lunged forward at Ivaris at impeccable speeds, hands with jagged claws in place of the fingers came down towards the huntsman, and his sword raised to meet the pair's attack.


End file.
